The increased presence of online education in higher education in the United States continues to challenge educators in their perceptions of teaching and learning experiences in virtual environments. While critiques of online education typically focus on its "less than" shortcomings, this literature review encourages educators to take a "more than" approach when providing institutional support. Online education provides beneficial outcomes for faculty, students, and administration when viewed for its potential in providing innovative teaching and learning. The financial challenges involved in providing these practices are addressed to justify investment in faculty effort, organizational support and professional development, and equitable student support.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the online pedagogical practices and technological tools that influenced the attainment of skills and knowledge associated with professional multicultural competence in a graduate student online course focused on social justice and inclusion.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative case study includes a total of ten student participants. Two theoretical orientations guide the study. Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) model of technological pedagogical content knowledge is provided to understand the reciprocal relationship between content, pedagogy, knowledge and technology in online learning environments. Critical digital pedagogy (Morris and Stommel, 2018) provides insights into challenging the neutrality of technological tools and focuses on relational capacities of online learning environments. Initial coding by each researcher was reduced to thematic codes focused on technological tools, course content delivery, asynchronous and synchronous pedagogical strategies.FindingsData analysis revealed technological tools such as discussion boards, video, video conferencing and synchronous opportunities influence student engagement and learning. Further, findings reveal that the nature of online education itself – specifically asynchronocity – functions as both a distraction and possibility for online learning in multicultural education courses. Students in this study revealed the value of opportunities to engage synchronously in online learning environments. Instruction without such opportunities was disadvantageous to the learning of skills and knowledge associated with multicultural competence.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is not generalizable to the experiences of all online students and only provides a small cross-section of online graduate students enrolled in a required diversity course at one institution.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of research focused on teaching courses in diversity, equity, social justice and inclusion in fully online environments, a gap this study begins to fill. The study also enhances the authors’ understanding of graduate student education.
This chapter aims to introduce readers to critical theoretical orientations necessary for online pedagogues, including feminist pedagogies, praxis pedagogy, culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy, and embodied practices. These critical theoretical orientations undergird a critical digital pedagogy in an online master's course, Diverse College Students. Critical digital pedagogical strategies employed by the authors, such as high context communication, community and relationship building, and visual and audio pedagogies, are discussed. The authors conclude the chapter by engaging in a self-reflexive activity, opening space for insights about the role of current political events, personal student successes, and an engaged community beyond the classroom. Recommendations for faculty wishing to engage a critical digital pedagogy are offered, as are recommendations for future research.
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